Miriam, RN
by The Dark Knightress
Summary: RN Miriam Conrad is just living...she's an ER nurse working at County General, unmarried and in a relationship-rut. But, in the September of 1994, her life is changed forever when medical student John Carter arrives at her ER. Now, it's a battle of the wills, the heart and ultimately of the ER. (Starts in Season One, non-episode related). John/OC


**H&P**

**SEPTEMBER 1994**

He seemed cute enough.

Though looks could always be deceiving, I highly doubted it in this case. My attention more on the overly attractive guy in a short-lab coat (indicating a student intern) than on my stabilized patient, I didn't see Lydia, the RN I was working with, wiggle her fingers for the saline until she snapped her fingers in front of my face. Jumping to attention, I drew my attention from the med student and gave her a look.

"Saline?" she asked with a huff. I nodded and tossed the bag at her as she mumbled "thanks", then stole another look at the student. He was busy checking his tie and brushing off the side of his khaki pants, and then he began to twirl a pen between his fingers, rocking back and forth on his heels as he scanned the busy ER for someone in particular. He seemed lost and out of place at the front desk by himself.

Someway, someone managed to hand me the HemaCue machine, which made its way into my hands, and yet remained unused. I blinked to take in the student, trying to see his finer features, but was soon interrupted with another set of fingers snapping in front of my face. I whirled around and frowned. "What?"

"What's the HemaCue? Gosh you're jumpy today," Haleh, a stout and sassy African-American nurse raised her brows at me. I stuck the patient's finger quickly and read the reading as it beeped at me.

"11.2" I snapped back. The Trauma One doors swung open and in stepped our charge nurse, Carol Hathaway, in her bright peach uniform as the rest of us. She smiled at me, waved and rounded the Trauma table and stared down at our patient, who remained unconscious as another nurse began an IV. Haleh, Lydia and I all looked to her.

"What's going on in here?" Carol asked, concerned. If legend served, Carol was best at determining rough atmospheres and resolving issues among County General's nursing staff. I frowned and began to remove my gloves, tossing them into the ever-increasing pile of soiled linen. This surprised her and she tipped her head to the side and raised her brows. "Miriam?"

I dared a look out the window to the student, who resumed rocking on his heels and twirling his pen. Carol caught this and bit her lower lip, apparently fighting a smile. Haleh and Lydia raised their chins and shared a knowing look with Carol, who smiled and snickered as I burst out of the Trauma One room. I shouldered passed Mark Greene, whose nose was in a chart until he furrowed his brow and pushed his glasses up, confused. "What's with Conrad?"

Carol calmed him behind me as I rushed towards the admit desk. "Something we said is all."

I rounded the corner of the desk and Jerry raised his hands as if he were surrendering. Upset, I moved charts and files then glanced up at the board, seeing far too many patients for one nurse to be signed onto. I rolled my eyes, still scanning for my enema guy that I'd left in haste, until a soft whistling caught my attention. I whirled around, only to see Jerry holding the chart far above my head on the other side of the desk.

"Looking for something, Nurse Conrad?"

I smiled at him and yanked it out of his hands. "Not anymore. Thanks Jer." I flipped the H&P scrawling and glanced at Mark's orders-_enema until clear_? I flipped the H&P back and glanced at the handwriting of one of my favorite doctor's, whom was now my mortal enemy. _C/O no BM for 4+ days. _I moaned, touched my forehead to the chart and propped my glasses up on top of my head. Stuffing the chart under my arm, I glanced at the clock and rounded the corner of the desk.

_BAM!_

"Hey!" I exclaimed, bouncing off the built muscle—which I assumed to be a male chest from absence of breasts—and colliding with an unoccupied gurney. The figure before me let out a rough exhale, dropping a chart and familiar pen. As he knelt, my eyes followed, and I spied a very familiar tie I'd been admiring not five minutes earlier.

"I'm sorry—" he apologized quickly, popping back up as if nothing had happened. He smiled a goofy, boyishly charming smile to me and tilted his head slightly to the side, as if a confused pup. "I didn't see you."

"It happens more often than not," I mumbled, pushing myself away from the gurney. I repositioned my glasses and swallowed. He was even more attractive in person, chocolate brown eyes flecked with gold and strong jawline stubbled with forgotten shadow. I felt my stomach flip somewhat inside my abdominal cavity, but I pushed the feeling away and extended my hand. "We nurses tend to be overlooked by you doctor's. Miriam Conrad."

He seemed almost eager to accept the handshake of greeting. "John Carter. You're a nurse?"

I nodded. "I am. Registered and all."

His smile was charming. "Aren't you too young to be an RN?"

My snort was less than ladylike, but met with a chuckle from him. "Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" I stepped passed him and grabbed my stethoscope from my Scrub pocket and looped it around my neck, so the diaphragm hit gently against my right collarbone. He followed behind me and caught up with two strides.

"I might be. That depends on how old _you_ are."

I shook my head. "You're not getting anything out of me, doctor. Are you looking for someone?" I asked, glancing up and down the hall and then motioning with my pen to his tie. "You've tightened and loosened that thing enough to hang yourself. Anyone in particular?"

He glanced at his watch and then his palm, where absentmindedly he must've written his Resident's name. "Uh, yeah actually. A…Peter Benton?"

I held my chart and winced at him, making an ugly face. I shook my head and rolled my eyes to the ceiling of the ER. "I'm sorry. And you were such a nice guy at the beginning of all this."

His grin faded into a confused face.

I backed up a few steps and grabbed a saline bag from the cart, and jerked my thumb in the general direction of the Trauma Rooms. I smiled at him, nodded towards the room and turned on my heel. "Try that way, Trauma Two. I heard Benton was called down for a Liver Lac. You might get lucky and not have to travel up to Surgery."

He burst into a sprint and rounded the corner, breezing passed me before saluting over his shoulder and nodding, grinning at me again. His eyes sparked with life and he placed his pen in his breast pocket. "Thanks. Nice meeting you!"

I poised my pen over my chart and scrawled my name over the signature box. "Not a problem." _You're cuter than you appear, doctor. _

With that, I rounded my corner and shouldered open the door to give the last enema of my shift.


End file.
